DHS/Toy Story Land "Early Morning Magic" (EMM) FAQ & Discussion

[Wish Upon A Starbucks]

On days when HS has EMM, where are the non EMM guests held until 8:45. Outside the gate or inside the park? And also then, how do Jedi training sign ups work? Do they begin before 8:45 or not?

 

[kat_lh]

I might be crazy...

But I just switched around almost my whole trip... My FP was this morning... and I was sure I was set.

Dang EMM additions.

I booked 12/24 - 7am not that it matters. So that my husband can do it too. I booked the MK Dessert party for 12/22 instead of 12/23 and we will have an early night 12/23. We need to make it before 7am so we can be in breakfast and done in 20 mins... lol Then at rope drop my family that wants too will hop over to Tot and RnRc and then we will hop to Epcot. Do a few FP's and then our CP lunch at 11:55. I figure we would be hungry by then. Our CP time is 5pm so even if we are tired we will last that long. Then we can call it an early night OR try to hang out until Illuminations. I think that depends on the day. I'm sure that all of us could last that long though. It's great with the kids getting older.

Now I need to take a look at my other ADRs on Saturday and Wednesday.

If you want to get more bang for your buck and not throw up on SDD, lol, take some Ziploc bags with you and take some pastries, fruit, etc to go from breakfast before TSL opens. That way you can have a lighter breakfast before riding and have snacks for afterwards without having to go back to ABC to get food.

 

[kat_lh]

On days when HS has EMM, where are the non EMM guests held until 8:45. Outside the gate or inside the park? And also then, how do Jedi training sign ups work? Do they begin before 8:45 or not?

JTA does not begin earlier and I believe TSL RD is held by the Chinese theater

 

[CarolynFH]

Thank you!! Very helpful. I think I’ll go with the 7:30 time and arrive a little bit on the early side. I saw what Disney has on their site and found it kind of amusing. I didn’t think it worked that way!

We booked our October 15 date only about 2 weeks ahead, and 7:30 was the only time offered to us. Having been keeping up with this thread, though, we arrived at 6:50 AM and were most definitely not the first ones there! Other guests were walking far ahead of us down Hollywood Blvd., and ABC Commissary was bustling when we arrived there around 7:00. When we walked out to front of the Chinese Theater around 7:20, probably 100 people were gathered already waiting to be walked in to TSL.

So arriving early would not be a bad idea even if you’re booked for 7:30.

 

[Wish Upon A Starbucks]

JTA does not begin earlier and I believe TSL RD is held by the Chinese theater

So Jedi training sign ups begin at 8:45 on EMMs? TIA.

 

[Lisa F]

So does anyone have any clear direction on how to strategize this if you want to see characters as well?

It SEEMS like with SDD so busy right at first it might be best to hit characters first and then do SDD after it dies down a bit?

My date is in January and so far has only one time slot and plenty of availability under it and hoping it stays that way so it won't be an issue. I know Josh at EasyWDW had an opinion but wondering how recent attendees feel/what their observations are even if not waiting on character lines

thanks!

 

[ninafeliz]

So does anyone have any clear direction on how to strategize this if you want to see characters as well?

It SEEMS like with SDD so busy right at first it might be best to hit characters first and then do SDD after it dies down a bit?

My date is in January and so far has only one time slot and plenty of availability under it and hoping it stays that way so it won't be an issue. I know Josh at EasyWDW had an opinion but wondering how recent attendees feel/what their observations are even if not waiting on character lines

thanks!

Thats what I was thinking and tentatively planning. The problem is it’s going to be difficult to not run to SDD first- both mentally and because it will be hard to convince my boys to do pictures when we could be riding.

 

[Lisa F]

Thats what I was thinking and tentatively planning. The problem is it’s going to be difficult to not run to SDD first- both mentally and because it will be hard to convince my boys to do pictures when we could be riding.

Wondering if maybe hitting the alien ride first would be good, they are both new to us. My son is excited to try it all.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

So does anyone have any clear direction on how to strategize this if you want to see characters as well?

It SEEMS like with SDD so busy right at first it might be best to hit characters first and then do SDD after it dies down a bit?

My date is in January and so far has only one time slot and plenty of availability under it and hoping it stays that way so it won't be an issue. I know Josh at EasyWDW had an opinion but wondering how recent attendees feel/what their observations are even if not waiting on character lines

thanks!

I think this is one of those YMMV things depending on your exact timing on your particular morning, but my post from a few weeks ago details how we did it: https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...12-31-1-2-added.3701980/page-59#post-59831845

We were walking on that path leading to the land at 7:23am.

Went straight to SDD (as were most people) - loaded ride vehicle at 7:31am.

Then went to meet Jessie and Woody - only one person in front of us. 7:37am time stamp on the pics.

Then went to Buzz, just a handful of people in line - 7:42am time stamp.

We saw materially longer lines later in the event. I had not really planned on meeting the characters early on like that - just sort of happened that way - but I was very glad we did.

Hope that helps!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

So Jedi training sign ups begin at 8:45 on EMMs? TIA.

I have not personally done it but I believe Jedi training is handled the same regardless if it's an EMM morning or not.

I am keeping tabs of Jedi training reports on Post #3 at the bottom, although we only have two reports so far: https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-12-24-12-31-1-2-added.3701980/#post-59644646

 

[aviva5675]

going Halloweeen morning. Plan to be at tapstyle before 7. Go to rides first, then eat. Not interested in AS, and I myself might not even do SDD, just my husband. Might try it once, but I dont like roller coasters.

 

[CarolynFH]

Wondering if maybe hitting the alien ride first would be good, they are both new to us. My son is excited to try it all.

We went straight to AS2 and it was a walkon. They were letting people stay on and ride again if they wanted. Then we went to SDD and the line was much shorter than it had been at opening. Ten minutes maybe? Can’t remember but didn’t think it was excessive.

 

[Jasperann]

If you want to get more bang for your buck and not throw up on SDD, lol, take some Ziploc bags with you and take some pastries, fruit, etc to go from breakfast before TSL opens. That way you can have a lighter breakfast before riding and have snacks for afterwards without having to go back to ABC to get food.

That is a good plan. I was thinking that we would hop back in there after park opening even if it is just to grab a soda to go. So we technically could do a light breakfast and then come back and grab some pastries.

 

[QueenHeather]

We went on October 17th. We needed to leave Hollywood Studios by 9 so we couldn’t eat breakfast after the event. Here’s how we did it.

We took an Uber (we were in an offsite Disney Springs hotel) and had no trouble getting one right away. It was about 6:05. We arrived at HS at 6:15 (we couldn’t sleep so we just got up and went) and we were the first people there, though more arrived pretty soon after.

They let us into the park at about 6:45 and directed us to breakfast. I knew from reading the board that they would let us into TSL at 7:20ish so we ate our hot breakfast kinda quickly (we didn’t feel too rushed, but it was just us two adults) and left the Commissary and were in the front of the crowd to go into the land. As expected, they let us in about 7:20 or 7:25, and we went straight to SDD since we were in the front of the line.

After our first ride, we went to Aliens, then TSM. Then back to Slinky Dog. We rode Slinky twice more (probably waiting about 8-10 minutes each time) then Aliens again. At 8:40 we went to SDD again and it was a walk on. We could have ridden it again after that (rope drop crowds had not arrived yet) but we did not.

While it was just two adults, we did not rush from place to place and did stop to talk to a few people and go to the bathroom and get water, etc. we could have done more rides, but we were very satisfied with 4 rides on Slinky, 2 on Aliens, and 1 on TSM.

 

[Jasperann]

We went straight to AS2 and it was a walkon. They were letting people stay on and ride again if they wanted. Then we went to SDD and the line was much shorter than it had been at opening. Ten minutes maybe? Can’t remember but didn’t think it was excessive.

I have a feeling if we went right to AS2 then we would be staying on again... because my kids LOVE those types of rides... lol

 

[tazleiten12]

Does Anyone know the cancellation policy. We have a reservation tomorrow, but i got a couple of sick people here. I'm hoping we can still go, but would like to wait a little later to decide. Also does the boat from Beach Club run to the studios that early? Thanks.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Does Anyone know the cancellation policy. We have a reservation tomorrow, but i got a couple of sick people here. I'm hoping we can still go, but would like to wait a little later to decide. Also does the boat from Beach Club run to the studios that early? Thanks.

Not sure about the boat, but I would not risk that mode of transportation.

From post 1 of the thread:

What Is The EMM Cancellation Policy?

• There is a 1 day cancellation policy for EMM.
• The full price will be forfeited if a guest cancels within 1 day or no shows for the reservation.
• Note: There is language on Disney's EMM page that says "tickets are nonrefundable" - this is NOT accurate. If you go through the booking process and read the actual terms/conditions, it notes the 1 day cancellation policy.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Does Anyone know the cancellation policy. We have a reservation tomorrow, but i got a couple of sick people here. I'm hoping we can still go, but would like to wait a little later to decide. Also does the boat from Beach Club run to the studios that early? Thanks.

There is a 1 day cancellation policy.

I don't know exactly what time the boat starts, but it's not early enough to make it to the front entrance at 7am. We were at YC a couple of weeks ago and walked - left at 6:40AM and arrived at front entrance around 7AM.

My DW and DD opted to come later.... they got on a Friendship boat at YC/BC at 7:18am. I'm assuming that was either the first or second Friendship Boat of the day, but not totally sure about that.

 

[summerskye]

Does anyone have a map showing where people line up after the breakfast. I am a visual person. It would help me if I could see a map of the area showing the breafast area, TSL, and the general line up area. We have not been to HS in years so I am not familiar with the layout with the new TSL area. Thanks in advance.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Does anyone have a map showing where people line up after the breakfast. I am a visual person. It would help me if I could see a map of the area showing the breafast area, TSL, and the general line up area. We have not been to HS in years so I am not familiar with the layout with the new TSL area. Thanks in advance.

Kind of crude map, but see below.

#29 is the ABC Commissary where breakfast is served.

Before the land is open, they start lining people up in front of the Chinese Theater in the area shaded in yellow below. When they start moving (approx 7:20ish-7:30 so far) they make everyone go through the doorway/ramp circled in yellow.

Hope that helps!